How do you find the mean absolute deviation?

A:

Quick Answer

In order to find the mean absolute deviation, find the regular mean of the values in a value set, then calculate the deviation of all the values from that mean. In other words, find the distance of each value from that mean. Combine those distances and calculate their mean.

Keep Learning

Calculate the mean of the values in the original set by adding them all together. Then, divide the sum by the number of values. Write this number down.

Find the deviation of all values from the mean

Find the deviation of all values from the mean by subtracting the newly calculated mean from each of the original values in the set. Convert any negative results to positive. Write down all the differences, or deviations, as a new set of values.

Calculate the mean of this new value set

Calculate the mean of the new value set by adding the values all together just as before. Divide by the number of values again, which should be the same as the previous number of values, to find the new mean. Identify this answer as the mean absolute deviation of this set of numbers.